30-minute Interval Cycling Workout for Stamina Upright Exercise Bikes

Whether you want to burn calories, increase endurance or strengthen your lower body and core, cycling can do it all. In fact, you can find a specific workout to meet each one of those goals. But if you don’t have gym-grade or commercial stationary bike, you may have to adjust these workouts. Many of these workouts may be too intense to perform on home-grade exercise bikes or require a different handlebar configuration.

But if you’ve purchased a Stamina upright exercise bike, look no further for a fat-burning, invigorating workout. We’ve catered this workout to accommodate our bikes with eight levels of adjustable, magnetic resistance. But even if you don’t have a Stamina bike or adjustable resistance, you can still perform this workout! We’ll list some alternatives for each part of the workout.

Five-minute Warm-up:

Foremost, it’s crucial to get your legs moving and your blood flowing before you kick it into high-gear. This will reduce your chance of injury and soreness.

During your warm-up, be sure to have the bike at a low intensity – between levels one and three. In addition to a low intensity, start at a slower pace and speed up during the warm-up as well. We suggest starting between 50 to 60 rpm and ending the warm-up at 70 to 80 rpm.

Alternatives: If you’re using an air resistance bike, just pedal slower to get a light resistance. If you’re using a bike with direct-contact resistance (most gym-grade or commercial bikes), there’s no precise measurement for resistance. Just make sure your warm-up isn’t straining.

The Actual Workout (20 minutes):

The best way to burn fat is through intervals, and you’ll definitely feel the burn after 20 minutes. While you don’t have to follow the exact intensity or speed listed, you should at least follow the same pattern to get a similar experience. Basically, imagine you’re going up hilly terrain for the first 10 minutes and coming back down for the remaining 10 minutes. You’ll also be changing intensity and speed throughout the “climb.”

Minute 1: Level three, 70 rpm

Minute 2: Level four, 70 rpm

Minute 3: Level five, 80 rpm

Minute 4: Level four, 80 rpm

Minute 5: Level five, 80 rpm

Minute 6: Level six, 80 rpm

Minute 7: Level five, 60 rpm

Minute 8: Level six, 70 rpm

Minute 9: Level seven, 80 rpm

Minute 10 (maximum effort): Level eight, as fast as you can pedal (aim for 90 rpm at least)

Minute 11 (recovery): Level four, 70 rpm

Minute 12: Level five, 80 rpm

Minute 13: Level six, 90 rpm

Minute 14: Level five, 70 rpm

Minute 15: Level four, 60 rpm

Minute 16: Level five, 70 rpm

Minute 17: Level six, 70 rpm

Minute 18: Level seven, 80 rpm

Minute 19: Level six, 70 rpm

Minute 20: Level five, 70 rpm

Five-minute Cooldown:

Think of this as a reverse warm-up. Start from where you left off at the end of the workout, then decrease speed and intensity for the remaining five minutes. After you’re finished, you may want to do some static stretching, concentrating on the lower body.